Prima Ballerina

Today only three of the six girls in Gabriella's ballet class showed up (presumably because of veterans day and because school was out.) I decided to snap up the opportunity to get some less cluttered pictures.... pun intended.

And some videos.... (You can see Juliana in the mirror if you look closely.)

Bath Buddies

Gabriella and Juliana enjoy taking a bath together. After their bath, they are both wrapped like a burrito and laid out next to each other on the bed. For whatever reason, they both find this hilarious. They lay side by side, looking at each other and they giggle back and forth. Sometimes these two just take my breath away a little bit.

Oh Dear

From Gabriella:

"Mom, you really need to have another baby sister. Then Juliana will have a friend. I can just go stay at Grace's house while you are at the hospital."

Juliana's 9 Month Update

At nine months old Juliana Jayne...

• Has lived as long on "the outside" as she lived on "the inside."

• Weighs 22lbs and is 29 1/4"! That puts her in the 90th percentile for weight, the 95th for height. I can't remember her head circumference, but that was 90th percentile as well. She is very proportional :)

• Is enjoying some finger foods. She has tried a variety of fruits and veggies and so far thinks they are all fine, but isn't the biggest fan of purees. She really loves bananas. We just hand her half a banana and she goes to town on it.We recently gave her Gerber puffs (which she loved.) We were glad that went well because wheat is a major allergen (one of the few allergens she will get to try before her first birthday.) The other day we gave her some teeny tiny pieces of soft chicken. She thought that was pretty exciting.

• Loves to be standing. She pulls up on everything!

• Cruises along the couch a bit.

• Pushes Gabriella's little white chairs around using them like a walker.

• Hates diaper changes.

• Has added "Uh-Oh" to her vocabulary. She especially likes to throw things on the floor and anounce "Uh-Oh!" and look at your endearingly until you retrieve it.

• Often "parrots" words back to us. I've noticed that she mimics Jonathan more than she mimics me.

Juliana's 9 month check up with Dr. Sarah went well today. Juliana is doing quite fabulously. She is quite the big girl (as mentioned above.) She is no longer reacting to any foods via breastmilk and her reflux seems to have improved. As far as the yucky colds/viruses that our house has been battling for awhile Juliana has probably faired the best. Dr. Sarah was impressed with Juliana developmentally as well. She may have even made a comment about "having two brilliant kids."

An Almost Candy Free Halloween...

Each year our church supplies the volunteers for the "Spooktacular" party/carnival at our local community center. This year it was on Monday and we went as a family. Jonathan ended up manning our "Spider Slide" game booth for the entire evening while I kept the girls entertained. Gabriella was able to enjoy some games, bracelet making and had her face painted for the first time. I have a few Spooktacular pictures up on Shutterfly for those curious as to what Jonathan looks like as a pirate.

On Friday I dressed up as Sarah Palin for work. I have to admit, it was pretty fun. However, Jonathan was more than a little creeped out. One of our club members also dressed as Palin, complete with an "I can see Russia from my house" pin. Interestingly, one of my co-workers is from Wasilla, Alaska. Her opinion of Palin as Mayor/Governor is not the most favorable... to put it nicely.

Friday evening we did Trick-or-Treating with the 2005 Playgroup. The entire event was pre-orchestrated with candy-free treat bags at about six stops. We walked together through the neighborhood and then enjoyed some soup together afterwards. Isn't that the best idea you have ever heard of? I am very thankful to Kirstin for organizing it and to Rene for opening up her home!

Isn't this "loot" way better than candy? Gabriella especially enjoyed the squishy lizards, the pink playdough, the honey stick and the stamps.

After soup was ever we headed for home and Gabriella mentioned that she didn't actually "knock on any doors" (the adult passing out the goodies at our stops mostly met us outside.) So, we went ahead and let her trick-or-treat at a few houses on our block. We let Gabriella keep a pack of Starburst (they are peanut/dairy safe) and Jonathan and I enjoyed a few treats ourselves.

Shutterfly

I finally got around to uploading September and October pictures onto Shutterfly. You can check them out here... http://whisler.shutterfly.com/

Monster March

Each year our neighborhood business association hosts a "Monster March." Hundreds of children and adults gather at the elementary school and parade through the neighborhood and back to the school. Gabriella was pretty excited about it and both girls enjoyed seeing all of the children (and adults!) in costume. I didn't take any pictures during the actual parade. These are from the walk home.

The gorgeous river bluff was just calling out for some picture taking...

We skipped the parade treats and when we got home we made some "coffee mug chocolate cake." I read the reviews on the recipe site and followed the advice of adding a little baking soda for extra fluff and a tish more oil to keep it moist. I also substituted almond milk to make it safe for Gabriella. It wasn't the best chocolate cake I've ever had in my life, but it was a fun quick project/treat for Gabriella and the texture was actually pretty decent.